Sugar Rush A Chlark Family Comedy in Three Parts
by kdsch123
Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Clark Kent have an awards dinner to go to and their usual babysitters are all busy. In a real emergency, it takes a real hero to step up. Chlark inferred Chlois, Bruce WayneLois Lane.
1. Chapter 1

Sugar Rush – A Comedy in Three Parts

Part One – The Victim

By Denise (kdsch123)

Rating: G

Acknowledgments: WB and DC own all. Special thanks and hugs to The Satyr Icon, who kept me up way past bedtime giggling about this idea I had last night while making dinner.

Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Clark Kent have an awards dinner to attend, and troublesome three year old twins, Lara and Jonathan, who need a babysitter. The usual babysitters are unavailable and it takes a hero to fill in.

Pairing: Chlark and implied Chlois, Bruce Wayne/Lois Lane

"Clark!" Chloe came down the stairs, holding the hem of her evening gown just above her feet to keep from tripping in the elegant hem. "Bruce and Lois are here."

The energy in the Metropolis duplex was amped to high.

"Aunnie Lo"!" A red streak of light sped by Chloe, making her stagger back against the wall. Jonathan Kent, four years old and precious in red feetie pajamas was at the door, scrambling for the doorknob as Lois let herself and her husband in to the Kent home with her key. Not caring about sticky fingers on her designer gown, Lois scooped up her godson and tickled his nose.

"Hiya, squirt!" Lois kissed Jonathan on the cheek and rumpled his already unruly black hair. Jonathan snuggled up against his favorite 'aunt' and glared balefully at his mother, who was still standing on the steps, looking down on the scene.

"Unca Bruce!" Lara Kent, also four, sailed down the banister and into the arms of Bruce Wayne. "Didja see me? I flewed!"

"I saw you, Pixie." Bruce smiled at the child, and set her down. "Your mom has told you about the banister. It's not a slide."

Lara Kent folded her arms and tossed her coppery head defiantly. "Daddy lets me."

"Daddy and I will be talking about that." Chloe frowned at her daughter, as she walked down the rest of the steps. "Guys, we have a problem."

"I love your problems." Bruce said grimly. Years of friendship and involvement in the Kent family circle had made Bruce an amused observer when a domestic dustup took place. "What is it now? Kryptonite beams, angry escapees from the Phantom Zone? Streaky miss the litterbox?"

"Chloe, I still say I can stay home…" Clark's voice preceded him, and soon enough he appeared, his tie still off. "You can accept my award for me."

"Oh My God." Lois set Jonathan down to dart away after his non powered sister. "Where's Mrs. Kent? Who is going to watch the kids?"

"Mom is sick." Clark sighed. "She's at farm."

"What about Uncle Gabe?" Lois asked and Chloe frowned.

"Dad is out of town." Chloe reached up to run her hand through her hair and stopped, remembering her elaborate updo. "One of his mystery trips."

"Rats." Lois grimaced. "I think Lucy is in town…."

"NO!" Chloe, Bruce and Clark all said emphatically. "Shelby would be better than Lucy…"

"I could go get him." Clark asked, winking at Bruce. "It would take a couple hours, and the kids could come with me…"

"Nice try, Kent." Chloe pointed to the mirror in the entry way of their loft apartment. "Tie. Put on. NOW."

"And Karen?" Bruce looked around. "I thought she said…" Powergirl, the first one of Lex's clones, and Chloe's adopted sister, was usually the second on the babysitting call list after Martha, and before Lois.

"On patrol. Billy Batson has finals and forgot to tell anyone." Clark said over his shoulder as he tied his black tie. "And Conner is not allowed to watch the kids anymore. Chloe said he and Cassie were at second base one night when she came home."

"Call me overprotective, but I think four is a little young for sex ed, Clark." Chloe laughed, thinking of the Amazon girl's face when Chloe walked in that night. Wondergirl's weaknesses were now tall, dark cloned Kryptonians and the petite, snarky brunette wife of Superman. "For a clone of you, Clark, he's not at all like you. Except in the looks department."

"And really, what good is a clone if you can't depend on them to babysit?" Bruce asked, stifling a laugh as Clark nodded. It was not news that Clark and Conner had a very troubled father/son style relationship. "Seriously, Conner is a good kid, Chloe."

"I know." Chloe sighed. "What there is of Lex in him though…" She shivered. "Makes me want to scream sometimes."

"That's just great." Lois shook her head. "My first award as L.J. Wayne and I'm not going to be able to collect." She began to kick off her shoes. "Okay, kids, pick out a story…Aunnie Lo' is…"

"NO!" Chloe reached out to her cousin. "You're going and so is Clark. Bruce, can you get Diana? The kids just adore her."

"Diana is involved in some ritual on Themyscira." Bruce shook his head. "Yearly, and unavoidable. I had a hard time getting someone to do monitor duty tonight. And don't look for Robin or Batgirl either. They're patrolling Gotham. The solution is simple. I'll stay. I'm not nominated for an award, and really, one less rich guy at these things is ever a problem."

"No." Chloe, Lois and Clark all frowned in Bruce's direction.

"Nice try, hermit." Lois punched her husband in the arm. "You've been trying to get out of this all week."

"I hardly think The Penguin being on the loose from Arkham is me avoiding your awards dinner, Mrs. Wayne." Bruce replied sharply. "Your priorities need work."

"Hmm." Lois smiled, knowing she'd hit a nerve. "My priorities. Hey, what about Alfred?"

Chloe and Clark looked at each other hopefully, and Bruce shrugged, taking out his phone to call his faithful valet. "Worth a shot. Alfred loves the kids."

"I regret sir, I cannot, as much as I would love to see young Master Jonathan and Miss Lara again." Alfred said, both hating having to say no to Bruce and glad that the Kent twins would not be tearing the mansion apart tonight. "The last time they were here, I had to have six tapestries repaired and Cook informed me that she will leave your employ if the Kent progeny steps foot in their kitchen again. Also, sir, I am loathe to remind you that my physician is concerned about my heart…."

"Right." Bruce replied, shaking his head for the others to see the response. "No, of course, Alfred. I don't want you risking your health for any reason. It's fine." He hung up. "Alfred isn't quite as young as he used to be, I'm afraid."

"Hey, what about Victor?" Clark suggested. "The kids love him. Or Raven?"

"You're supposed to call her Rachel, Clark. You know, for a guy who takes his secret identity so seriously you always call she and Kori by their 'hero' names." Chloe corrected her husband. "Call over to the Titans Tower and see if they can get away. And ask about Garth, too." Chloe looked at her watch. "I wish Oliver was in town."

"I luv Unca Oliva." Lara lisped, and Bruce nodded knowingly.

"He charms them all, even the preschoolers." Bruce laughed, winking at his wife. Lois smirked in reply.

"Oliver is only able to handle both of the twins when Roy is around. Otherwise he's a good time Charlie with them. It took me three days stop them from wanting to shoot arrows at each other." Chloe sighed. "Maybe I should stay home."

"No." Clark sighed, hanging up the phone. "Victor is on patrol, Rachel is at the monastery, and Gar is on monitor duty." He looked at his wife and smiled. "You are too beautiful to stay home, Chloe."

Chloe grinned. "So are you, so no funny business." She patted Clark's shoulder. "Who can we even call?"

"Well, when I called the Tower, Gar said that Bart was available." Clark said, and Bruce, Lois and Chloe all turned to stare at him.

"Impulse?" Bruce asked, as Chloe and Lois continued to stare at Clark helplessly.

"He's fun." Clark offered. "Jonathan had a great time with him at the farm when Bart was there hanging around with Conner."

"He's powered, so he can keep up with Thing One and Thing Two." Lois smiled, her hazel eyes widened as she nodded at her cousin.

"He's reckless." Bruce folded his tuxedo'ed arms.

"He's immature." Chloe sighed.

"He's available." Clark and Lois both said. And then, Clark shrugged. "No, you're right. Bruce and I will stay home. You can accept my award for me and your own too. There's a Green Socks vs. Star City Sentinels game on. Playoffs. Pizza and kids in bed by nine."

"Sounds like a plan." Bruce grinned. "In a real emergency, you need real heroes."

Chloe looked from her husband, her cousin and her cousin's husband. Finally, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Call Bart."


	2. Chaos and Despair

Part II – Chaos and Despair

Bart Allen could handle anything. The Teen Titans who had babysat before had nothing but wonderful things to say about the Kent twins, even aside from the fact that their father was Superman. Bart had even sort of hung around with Jonathan once, at the Kent Farm in Smallville. Cool kid. His palms were sweating, and he didn't know why. His first instinct was to run, but his finger pressed the button for the doorbell on it's own. The door swung open and Bart found himself face to face with Bruce Wayne, his harshest critic, next to Uncle Wally, of course.

"Good, you're here." Bruce said, opening the door wider so Bart could pass.

"Yeah, did you think I couldn't find the place?" Bart asked nonchalantly. "KIDS!" He knelt and swept both Kent twins into a hug. "How are you guys?"

"Hi, Unca Bart." Jonathan said, and Lara patted his cheek sweetly. "Luv Unca Bart."

"Are we going to have fun tonight or what? I have all kinds of games planned. We can play hide and seek, and have races…" Bart looked up at the twins mother, who was tapping her elegantly shod foot. "Um, we'll tell quiet, calm bedtime stories and no snacks without brushing your teeth after."

"Exactly right." Chloe said, as Clark and Lois came from the kitchen, arguing about an article that Lois was working on. "Clark, Bart's here."

"Bart." Clark nodded. "You have one mission tonight. Keep my kids safe and out of trouble. That's it. Think you can handle it?" He folded his arms over his chest. "We're only ten minutes away at the Metropolis Plaza Ballroom."

"Piece of cake, Big Blue, don't sweat it." Bart spun the children around, producing chimes of giggles. "It's all good."

"Bart, I expect this to go well." Bruce warned. "Try and control yourself. Don't live up to your name tonight if you can help it."

"Geez, Bats, it's two four year olds. What's the worst that could happen?" Bart set the kids down. "You all just go and have a good time."

"Okay, but remember, ten minutes away, less if I run." Chloe said, and Bart nodded, patting her on the shoulder gently. She turned and looked at Clark. "You know, maybe it's not too late, we can not go…"

"Chloe." Clark put his hands on her shoulders. "Tonight, _Lois Lane_ is getting recognized for her expose of the organized crime syndicate here in Metropolis. This is huge. The next step is a Pulitzer. How would you feel if you weren't there to accept it?" Clark looked down into his wife's face and smiled. "I had to rescue you off the top of the Metropolis State Building the night you first started following that story."

"I remember." Chloe took one of Clark's hands in her own and pressed her cheek against it. "I really thought I was done with and then everything was okay, because of you.…" Chloe sighed and looked up into Clark's eyes. "I thought you were mad at me…"

"Never." Clark grinned, leaning in to kiss his wife. A quick, sharp clearing of a throat broke the mood, and Lois shook her head.

"I'm ready." Lois interjected, taking Bruce's arm. "We pass the Metropolis State Builidng on the way. You guys can reminisce more there." She grinned at her husband. "I'm so glad you never saved me from anything."

"Right." Bruce laughed, winking at Clark. "Good thing. We'll go ring for the elevator."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? The twins can be hard to handle, but if you stay one step ahead of them, you should be alright." Chloe turned to Bart. "Jonathan has a stuffed toy he liked to sleep with, and Lara needs her nightlight. No sugar, please. It's late enough and if they have even one grain…"

"Chloe, sugar doesn't affect them." Clark said, towing her out the door. "Night, Bart. See you when you get back, and don't forget, if you need help, call."

"Will do!" Bart waved as the door closed behind Clark and Chloe and he turned looking for the children, who had mysteriously vanished. "One step ahead, my eye. I'm going to need a mile head start.. Here, kiddie, kiddie…" A squeal of giggles gave Bart his first clue. Heading off up the stairs, he wondered why anyone would make such a big deal about watching two little kids.

"But you gotta put me through!" Bart wailed into the JLA communicator three hours later. "J'onn, this is life and death." The Kent twins had drained the super fast teen of nearly all of his powers. Eating hadn't helped because he didn't actually get to eat anything he'd made. Everything had been appropriated by four little hands and the cry "Me too! Share with us, Unca Bart!" Now, they were being sick in the bathroom, and Bart cursed the little tidbit of info that had been left out of Garth's helpful advice. _Kryptonian/Human children vomited. A LOT. Especially after a gallon of ice cream. _

"I'm aware of your care taking arrangements with the Kents this evening, Bart. I didn't feel that Clark would mind if I kept an eye out from here." J'onn J'honz looked at the monitor. The Kent home was ashambles. "Human children should not be subjected to the amount of ice cream you fed them. I believe it might even be toxic for them."

"Toxic? For them?" Bart looked around. Chocolate syrup, strawberry sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and melted ice cream marred the almost pristine cleanliness of the Kent kitchen. The sound of retching from the bathroom, followed by sobs meant that Lara was done being sick and that Jonathan's turn had come. "I'll never look at a hot fudge sundae again, I swear."

"I WANT MY MOMMY!!" Lara screamed, sitting down in a puddle of unidentifiable mush that Bart hoped was ice cream. "I WANT MY DADDY!"

"I'll see if I can find Karen. She may be able to help. J'honz out." Jonathan had stopped throwing up and added his wails to his sisters clinging to her for dear life.

"No, no…J'onn! Don't hang up!!" Bart cried, as the JLA com beeped again. "Karen?"

"No, Bart, it's Clark. Everything okay? Is Karen alright?" Clark asked, away from the party. He'd gotten his award, danced with his wife and shook hands with half the big wigs in Metropolis. Not even Chloe could fault him for going home now, if Bart needed the help.

"Oh, we're all fine." Bart singsonged. "Right kids?" He held the communicator away and cheered in a small voice. "YAY!" Then he brought the communicator back. "See, right as rain."

"Okay." Clark frowned. "You were waiting for Karen?"

"To ask her which bedtime story she likes to read them. We've read through half the books in the twin's room and none of them seem to be doing the trick." Bart lied, hoping that Superman didn't have a built in voice lie detector. Because that would be bad. "I like 'Stinky Cheese Man' myself, but the kids weren't buying it."

"Heh, 'Stinky Cheese Man.'" Clark laughed. "Try reading them something else. And not 'Three Little Pigs'. The Question had the kids up in arms about the timber and brick lobby, as well as the treatment of pigs before they are slaughtered. Not a good thing. I know…sit them down and put on 'Babe'. It never fails to put Jonathan to sleep."

"Yeah, sure." Bart nodded, seeing light at the end of the tunnel. "Pig movie, got it."

"Babe" lasted until the piglet was separated from it's mother. The resulting wailing from both twins caused Karen Starke to appear on the deck, impatient and annoyed. Bart was never so happy to see Powergirl in his life, regardless of the fact that she looked ready to kill him. But right now, Bart would have welcomed death too.

"Hey, brainless." She said, scooping the filthy twins in her arms. "What possessed you to put on a movie where the kid gets taken away from it's mother?" She soothed her tiny cousins and rocked them a little, singing Kryptonian for them. "And what did you do to the place? Clark is going to freak."

"You have to help me." Bart pushed his red hair from his eyes desperately. "Please, Karen. I'm begging you and I'll do anything, I swear."

"Hmm." Karen looked at the two sobbing children in her arms. "Anything?"

"I'm on my knees, woman!" Bart sank to the floor and the Kent twins bounded out of Karen's grip and piled onto Bart with a pleased whoop.

"Westle!!" Lara crowed and Jonathan jumped up and landed on Bart. HARD. The young hero gasped, and then sped around them, enclosing them in his arms.

"There. That should do it. Keep them going until they're good and tired. Then wash them up and put them to bed." Karen wiped at her white uniform and groaned. "And never feed them strawberry sauce again. This will never come out." She turned and made her way back to the terrace. "Stay out of trouble, kids."

"No, Karen, wait…WAIT!!!" Bart called, as Karen lifted off, waving.

"On Patrol. Just stopped by because you called. You're fine, Bart. Just clean up before Clark gets home." She blew kisses to the children, who were clinging to Bart's ankles.

"Unca Bart! Westle!!" Jonathan pulled Bart down, and pinned him to the parquet floor. "I won!"

"NO, I won!" Lara called from the stairs. "Watch me, Unca Bart, I FLEWED!"

Remembering that Lara was not powered, Bart jumped up. "No, baby, please, don't slide down!" He sped over and caught the girl in mid air, making her giggle.

"Unca Bart do it again!!" She laughed, clapping her hands. "Again!"

"No, not again. Never again!" Bart cried to no one. Jonathan had snagged his sister and took off. Bart sighed. "Here, kiddie, kiddie, kiddie!"

"Everything is fine." Clark said, sliding into his seat. "Bart seems to have everything under control."

Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? I want to find that hard to believe."

"I know." Chloe smiled brightly, relieved. She sighed and held out her hand to her husband. "We're at a party. It's time to dance with your wife."

"Of course." Clark grinned, taking her hand. "Got your boots on?"

"Shut up." Chloe laughed, rising, and settling into Clark's arms easily.

"Shutting up." Clark laughed. "You look amazing tonight, _Lois_." His voice was teasing, and Chloe blushed.

"Clark.." Chloe grinned. "It is funny, though."

"You'll always be Chloe to me." Clark bent and kissed his wife. "And you look amazing tonight."


	3. Impulse Control

Part III – Damage Control

Bart surveyed the Kent apartment and felt his career as a Teen Titan vanishing out from underneath him. There could be no way anyone would ever trust him to handle a big situation, like the end of the world if he couldn't handle two four year olds. Even Conner and Cassie's little steam session was not so big a failure as this was. The living room was upside down, and Bart contemplated the vision of four year old Jonathan up ending the heavy leather sofa to find a small action figure and pondered returning it to it's rightful place and then decided not. The young Kents were crawling on the upside down couch, and sliding down the back. They were happy, and Bart decided their happiness was what mattered. While he could figure out how to solve his problem, anyway.

He forced himself to walk into the kitchen, and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of it. He was going to need serious octane to bring this place back to the way Mrs. Kent left it. Bart sighed and walked over to the table, picking up the white stoneware sugar bowl. Without even thinking twice, he dumped the contents into his mouth and then let the grainy sweetness dissolve against his tongue. Setting the sugar bowl down, Bart moved on to the refrigerator, and found two 2 liter bottles of soda, and guzzled those down too. Feeling a bit more alert, Bart walked to the Kent's cabinets and found two packages of cookies, and ate his way through most of it while the children were continuing to destroy the living room.

"I can hear them." Bart told himself. "If I can hear them, it's all good." He shoved the last of the cookies in his mouth and sped back to the refrigerator. Cookie dough, two large logs of it, sat innocently on the pristine glass shelves, and Bart ripped into them, feeling his body begin to amp up from the excessive sugar and calories he'd ingested. "Clean first, kids washed up and then, "hello, Clark, see, everything is golden…"

As the world around him began to blur, Bart grabbed a roll of paper towels and a full bottle of bleach spray and in no time, the kitchen was sparkling. He even cleaned the bathroom, which had been disgusting with kid puke. Able to control himself after the initial burst of speed, Bart slowed down enough to inspect his work. Clark would never know anything had been wrong in this part of the apartment. Speeding up again, Bart grabbed the Kent children, re-bathed them and changed their pajamas, depositing each one on their bed with a quick pat on the head. The living room was next, and Bart had the furniture rearranged in no time. He wiped every glass surface free of finger marks, crayon drawings and kid snot. The house was back in order, and no one would have to know how badly he'd nearly screwed up. Winding down, Bart shoved a last armload of toys into the entry closet, put a "The Fast and The Furious" on and sat down on the couch. He was completely drained now, and the only thing that would help him recharge would be a nap. Unable to stop himself, Bart's eyes drifted shut, and he descended into a deep, deep sleep.

"J'onn, what's the status of Impulse and the Kent twins?" Bruce asked, standing in the shadows away from the party. He waved to his wife, who was dancing with the editor of the Daily Planet, Perry White. No matter how many times she'd been courted by other papers, Lois, or L.J. Wayne was devoted to the Gotham Times, and never beamed as proudly as the day they told her that her column was being syndicated across the country. She'd made it, and not on her cousin's coat tails, either. Bruce tapped his foot impatiently, and finally, J'onn returned to the comm, the hint of a smile in his voice.

"Tell Clark that he will need to re-supply on all carbohydrate foodstuffs tomorrow, but that his children are in bed, and the house is safe. Impulse succeeded." The Martian bit into a Hydrox cookie. "You should be dancing with your wife, Bruce Wayne."

"I will." Bruce frowned. "No collateral damage? Are you sure?"

"Not a cracked figurine or scratched DVD. The boy nearly killed himself tonight trying to prove his worth to Clark. And you." J'onn said. "Go, dance with your wife before I arrive at the party myself."

"Fine. Wayne out." Bruce hung up the comm. Everything okay. Bruce looked out of the long windows of the Metropolis Plaza ballroom. It seemed hard to believe, but there it was. He turned to watch Clark and Chloe smiling at each other on the dance floor. It was always a good thing to see the Kents enjoying themselves. He slid the comm back into his pocket and made his way toward his wife to take her away from Perry White.

"Clark, this is really wonderful." Chloe smiled up at Clark happily. "Just us, the twins are home and safe. You aren't running to save the world…I'm a happy woman."

"And you are the guest of honor here tonight, Cinderella." Clark leaned forward and kissed Chloe's nose. "And we don't have to be out of here at the stroke of midnight either."

"Well, that's good, because it's after midnight already." Chloe said. "This is the last dance of the evening."

"Well, not the LAST one." Clark smiled. "There's always home."

"Right, home." Chloe grinned back at him. "Let's start saying goodbye then."

Lara Kent slid down the banister and landed on her pink pajama-ed butt.

"MOMMA! DADDY! OWWWWWIIEEEEE!"

Jonathan's wild black head appeared at the top of the stairs, his sister's yelp of pain rousing him. Padding silently down the steps, Jonathan held out a hand to his crying sister. She took it and stood, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her clean pajamas. They walked hand in hand into the living room.

"Unca Bart?" Jonathan said tentatively. "Unca Bart? You here?" Lara sniffled loudly and pointed at the sleeping figure of their babysitter, stretched out on the couch.

"Unca Bart sweeping." Lara whispered, let go of her brother's hand and climbed up onto the couch beside Bart. "Poor Unca Bart."

"Uh-oh." Jonathan said, looking at the television. "A Grown Up Movie." He stared for a long time. "Unca Bart not a grown up." Jonathan folded his little arms. "He gets a time out."

"No." Lara hugged Bart tightly. "No. Unca Bart is nice. You is mean, Jonathan. So mean." She shook her red curls, but Jonathan Kent was a stickler for the rules.

"Time out for watching grown up movie." Jonathan pulled Bart from the couch and dragged him to the twins' time out spot. Bart stirred briefly, but then fell back to sleep, slumped over against the first step of the staircase. "You sit in time out, Unca Bart, til sorry for seeing grownup movie and playing with Daddy's machine. Five minutes." Jonathan patted Bart's shoulder tenderly. "You a good boy, though."

"MEAN!" Lara cried, tears falling again. "You not nice, Jonathan Kent. I don't like you no more."

"Time out is not nice." Jonathan repeated his father's patient words, words he'd heard many times before. "Time out make you think about what you done. Time out to be sorry in, not have fun." Jonathan glared at his sister. "You need time out if you be fresh more to me."

"I not fresh." Lara replied as loftily as a four year old girl in pink pajamas could. "I snarky. Mommy says I sassy."

"Timeout." Jonathan pointed to the step. "Timeout for Lara."

"NO!" Lara yelled, and then, she paused. "I hear something."

"I hear it too. It's DADDY!" Jonathan leapt into the air, just as the door opened and landed in his father's arms. "Hiya, Daddy."

"Hi, Jonathan." Clark looked at his son sternly. "You should have been asleep a long time ago."

"Lara falled, I woke up." Jonathan said, as Lara's cheeks grew more deeply pink and tears welled in her eyes. "Unca Bart asleep."

"Poor Unca Bart!" Lara cried, allowing herself to be folded into her mother's embrace. "Poor Unca Bart! Jonathan put him in time out!" She pointed to Bart, who was now stretched out on the floor. Bruce knelt over and felt for a pulse.

He looked up at Clark and grinned.

"Impulse is out cold. Your twins beat him. I need to replicate them for the practice rooms." Bruce lifted Bart up. "I'll deposit him in your guest room for the night, Clark."

"Yeah, oh.." Chloe walked over and kissed the top of Bart's head, as he were her own son. "I'm so sorry, Bart." She whispered in his ear. Bart blinked awake, and looked at Bruce Wayne sleepily and then jumped to the floor.

"I am sooo sorry. I know I should have never fallen asleep, but…" He looked down at Lara and then over at Jonathan. "you guys needed to be asleep hours ago…oh, no."

"You naughty. You watch grown up movies and play with Daddy's machine, you let Lara hurt her butt. You not a grown up." Jonathan informed Bart authoritatively. "You have time out."

"I don't think so, Mister." Clark interceded. "I'm the one that hands out timeouts around here. Go on, Bart. The guest room is yours. Go get some sleep. You earned it."

"Thanks, Big Blue." Bart nodded and trudged up the stairs. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Chloe waved to Bart. "Thank you, sweetie."

"No problem, Mrs. Kent. Any time." Bart disappeared, and Chloe turned to face her twins.

"Now, march, up to bed." She suppressed a grin at Jonathan's indignant expression, and allowed Lara to climb into her arms for a hug. "It's late for little people to be out of bed."

"We go." Jonathan slid out of Clark's arms. "Night, Daddy."

"Night, Jonathan. Night, Lara." Clark kissed his son and then his daughter and watched them go up to bed. He turned and looked at his wife. "So, that was interesting."

"Yeah." Chloe smiled at her husband fondly. "Can't wait for the recap at breakfast."

"Well, it's back to the Metropolis Plaza for us." Lois waved to Clark and Chloe. "Good night, guys." She brandished her award. "Gonna go put this under my pillow and dream about accepting it again." She rested her head on Bruce's shoulder lightly. "You ready?"

"Yes. Good night, folks." Bruce waved as they left to go get the elevator. Clark closed the door behind his friends, as Chloe disappeared into the kitchen.

"Come on, Mrs. Kent. It's late for award winning investigative journalists, too." Clark walked up the steps and Chloe came in from shutting off lights in the living room, a bemused expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Everything is too neat, Clark." Chloe frowned. "The twins toy box is missing."

"Bart probably brought it upstairs. Come on. We'll figure it out in the morning." Clark took his wife's hand in his. His comm went off. "Go ahead."

"Clark? Bruce. I forgot to tell you, J'onn said to stock up on carbs and stuff for the morning. Apparently Bart cleaned you guys out." Bruce's voice held a hint of a laugh.

"Right." Clark hung up the comm, and smiled. "I'll go to the store in the morning."

"Well," Chloe walked up the steps and turned back to look at Clark. "Is Bart on the short list now?"

"Ah," Clark shrugged, "We'll put him on the second string. Poor kid. He's earned at least a chance to make plans before we ask him to baby sit again."

"Yeah." Chloe smiled. "Come on, hero." She waited at the top of the steps. "Carry me."

Clark scooped his wife up and kissed her quickly. "Anything you want."

"Ooh, an award and 'anything I want'? I can want anything…." Chloe grinned.

"Just remember, Chloe, the last time it was "anything you want" we got twins out of the deal." Clark teased, kissing his wife on the nose. "We'll never get babysitters then."

"And that's bad because…." Chloe winked at Clark, who grinned broadly in response.

"Okay…" Clark swung her down the hall and into their room. "Anything you say, Ms. Lane…"

THE END


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